August 2013

August 31, 2013

The Cowboys traded for defensive end Edgar Jones from the Kansas City Chiefs, according to the Chiefs' Twitter account on Saturday night.

Jones, 28, is a special teams veteran who spent his first five seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, who signed him as an undrafted free agent out of Southeast Missouri in 2007. He was a pass rusher in college but also played tight end and linebacker with the Ravens.

Jones, 6-foot-3 and 263 pounds, He will take the roster spot of Nate Livings, who was placed on injured reserve.

The Cowboys did not announce the trade. No compensation was announced by either team.

Here is a special teams score by Jones in a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season.

The Cowboys were not done with their moves at 5 p.m. when they reduced their roster to 53. They now are at 52 after placing offensive guard Nate Livings on injured reserve.

Livings underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Aug. 2 and has not practiced since. It is his third career surgery on that knee, the second since last season.

The Cowboys signed Livings to a five-year, $18.7 million contract last season with $6.2 million guaranteed. His $1.7 million salary for 2013 was guaranteed this season even if he wasn't on the team.

Livings started all 16 games last season. He had two penalties, including one hold, and allowed five sacks, according to STATS, prompting the Cowboys to seek a replacement.

They already had penciled Ron Leary into the starting lineup at Livings' left guard spot before Livings' injury. Leary is rehabbing from arthroscopic knee surgery, but Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Thursday he expects Leary to be ready for the opener.

The Cowboys went heavy at safety and heavy at tight end. They are light at linebacker and cornerback right now, though, and they again kept only two quarterbacks.

Dallas likely isn't finished churning the bottom of the roster, but their current 53 has a few surprises.

Jeff Heath came from nowhere to make the roster. He is one of six safeties on the team. The Cowboys kept both Danny McCray, after he agreed to a paycut, and Eric Frampton, who is rehabbing a groin injury.

They have only four corners, though.

The Cowboys, who do not have a fullback, kept five tight ends with Dante Rosario and Andre Smith joining Jason Witten, James Hanna and second-round pick Gavin Escobar.

But the Cowboys have only Ernie Sims and DeVonte Holloman backing up the three starting linebackers.

Third quarterback Alex Tanney was waived as expected, leaving the Cowboys with only Tony Romo and Kyle Orton for a second consecutive season. Tanney could be re-signed to the practice squad if he clears waivers.

Guard David Arkin and tackle Darrion Weems both made the roster as the Cowboys chose to keep 10 offensive linemen. They also chose to keep veteran Nate Livings.

They also kept backup defensive tackles Landon Cohen and Sean Lissemore as well as Ben Bass. Nick Hayden, George Selvie and Kyle Wilber are the other defensive linemen on the roster to go with Anthony Spencer, DeMarcus Ware and Jason Hatcher. Defensive tackle Jay Ratliff will start the season on PUP, meaning he will miss the first six games.

The Cowboys continued the process of trimming their roster on Saturday by placing often-injured safety Matt Johnson on injured reserve and forcing backup safety Danny McCray to take pay cut to remain with the team.

McCray, one of the Cowboys top special teams players, signed a restricted free agent tender of $1.323 million in the off season. He has reduced his salary from $1.323 million to roughly $700,000, per a source.

Johnson, a fourth-round pick in 2012, has been sidelined since the preseason opener with a stress reaction in his foot. A month later, Johnson is still no closer to returning to the field, so the Cowboys put him injured reserve, sidelining him for the season.

Receiver Anthony Armstrong tweeted "the grind doesn't stop here" after he learned of his release from the Cowboys.

Armstrong's depature likely means the Cowboys will keep five receivers to start the season. Injuries at other positions likely cost Armstrong. He is an immediate free agent, but if he doesn't land with another team, Armstrong could return in Week 2, when his season salary would not be fully guaranteed.

Armstrong has been cut by the team two other times since Dec. 22 and re-signed twice. He has played in one game for the Cowboys, getting in against the Steelers last year.

Receivers Dez Bryant, Miles Austin, Dwayne Harris, Terrance Harris and Cole Beasley will make the roster.

The Cowboys are in the process of reducing their roster from 75 to 53. They have until 5 p.m. Saturday.

The NFL fined Cowboys defensive lineman Ben Bass $15,750, according to a league source. Bass had a horse-collar tackle on Bengals quarterback Josh Johnson in the fourth quarter of Saturday's exhibition game. Bass was penalized 15 yards on the play.

Earlier this preseason, the league fined cornerback Micah Pellerin $15,750 for an unnecesasry roughness penalty against the Cardinals on Aug. 17. Pellerin will not have to pay the fine if he does not make an NFL roster this season.

The Cowboys got a lot done in the preseason on defense,
installing a new scheme, putting an emphasis on turnovers that resulted in 10
takeaways and not allowing a touchdown against the starters.

But they did not get everything done, veteran safety Will
Allen said.

“We haven’t won a real game yet. You know?” he said after
Thursday night’s preseason finale against the Houston Texans. “I mean, that’s
not been accomplished. So there’s a lot that needs to be done. There’s a
16-week season and a four-week single-elimination playoff. So there’s a lot
that hasn’t been accomplished.”

But the Cowboys apparently did teach themselves to create
turnovers. Safeties Barry Church, Jeff Heath and Danny McCray all forced
fumbles in the preseason, as did linebacker Sean Lee and defensive tackle Sean
Lissemore (albeit with a kick of the foot, not a punch of the hand). Rookies
B.W. Webb, DeVonte Holloman, J.J. Wilcox and Xavier Brewer had interceptions.

There might have been more. Holloman almost had a third
turnover caused, but a ball he knocked out against Arizona and recovered by Kyle Wilber was
overturned on replay. Webb had a near-interception on Thursday against the
Texans.

Now will it happen against the Giants and beyond?

“We’ve got to do it every week,” Allen said. “That’s got to
be the mentality. That’s going to help us win. That’s our winning edge – being physical
and getting turnovers and giving effort. And that’s it. We play like that,
that’ll give us a great chance to win a lot of ballgames.

“Yes, we’ve played hard. Yes, we’ve caused turnovers, and
that’s something that hasn’t happened here of late. But that’s just a start.
We’re just scratching the surface. And that’s how I look at it.”

Cole Beasley is going to be nervous waiting for 3 o’clock
Saturday, when the final cuts are due and the Cowboys announce the 53-man
roster.

Just like he was last year.

He remembers the feeling.

“Nothing you can do,” he said. “You just wait. You just hope
for the best. It’s real nerve-wracking. I don’t know. We’ll see.”

Beasley thinks he had a better preseason last year when he
made the team as an undrafted rookie out of SMU. He’s not as sure about this
year because he missed two preseason games with an injury.

“I’m still a little behind condition-wise and stuff,” he
said after Thursday night’s preseason finale against the Texans, in which he
caught two passes for 30 yards. “I wish I didn’t have an injury so I could have
played in the other two games to show a little bit more. Hopefully, I did
enough to make it and at least get another opportunity just to get better and
keep improving and come back and try to get a role somehow.”

Beasley hurt his foot in the second preseason game, on Aug.
9, and returned to practice this week. He said the lack of practice makes a
difference.

“I’ve had one practice in three weeks,” he said. “I know I
can be better than I was tonight. So hopefully, I think 10 days will be fine.
Just practicing more with the team and being out there will help me a lot.”

But first things first. Beasley will wait to hear if he has
made the team. Just like he waited last year.

“It’s about the same. It’s pretty much the same,” he said of
the feeling this year versus last year. “If you’re not an established guy like Tony
Romo, Jason Witten, Miles, people like that, you’re never in the clear. It’s
still the same for me.”